Cherry Blossom Watch Update: March 3, 2015

It's meteorological spring, but you wouldn't know it poking your head out the door. Another wintry mix arriving this afternoon doesn't help. The Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang is predicting March to be colder and snowier than average, which, on the back of a very cold February, will slow the cherry blossoms down.

A slightly warmer day yesterday has melted a lot of the snow around the Tidal Basin, but the Tidal Basin itself is still covered by a layer of ice. And the ice we've had in the past 48 hours coating trees, roads, and sidewalks has taken its toll on some of the trees with some scattered branches--some of them quite big--breaking off from the added weight. You can see one of the examples from a tree near the MLK Memorial in the shots below.

We're expecting the National Park Service to issue their first cherry blossom peak bloom forecast for the season this morning. I'll update the peak bloom page as soon as we hear.

In the meantime, here are some shots of how the trees are looking this morning.

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